Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,564,272 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,932 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.13% of Kraft Heinz worth $54,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 83.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,709,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961,872 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 260.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,169,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,686,000 after acquiring an additional 845,490 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,353,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 9.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,061,000 after purchasing an additional 799,581 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KHC. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $31.58 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.